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Oxide Reduction in Advanced Metal Stacks for Microelectronic Applications

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 2011

Wentao Qin,
Alex A. Volinsky,
Dennis Werho and
N. David Theodore
Wentao Qin
Affiliation:
DigitalDNA™ Labs, Motorola Inc., Tempe, AZ 85284, USA
Alex A. Volinsky
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of South Florida
Dennis Werho
Affiliation:
DigitalDNA™ Labs, Motorola Inc., Tempe, AZ 85284, USA
N. David Theodore
Affiliation:
DigitalDNA™ Labs, Motorola Inc., Tempe, AZ 85284, USA
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Abstract

Aluminum and copper are widely used for microelectronic interconnect applications. Interfacial oxides can cause device performance degradation and failure by significantly increasing electrical resistance. Interfacial oxide layers found in Al/Ta and Ta/Cu metal stacks were studied using Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) combined with Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS) and Parallel Electron Energy Loss Spectroscopy (PEELS). The analysis indicates that the observed interfacial oxide layers, Al2O3 and mainly Ta2O5, result from spontaneous reductions of Ta oxide and Cu oxide, respectively. Thermodynamics enables interpretation of the results.

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